If you treat life in recovery as something to be endured, it is hardly surprising if living sober turns out to be a bit dull and meaningless. You only get out of sobriety what you are prepared to put into it. If you only give 10 per cent, you will only reap small rewards. The key to success is to become really passionate about this better way of living because this will give you the energy you need to get the most out of what is on offer.
What Does It Mean to be Passionate about Recovery
There are different reasons why people do this. When it comes to recovery, some stay sober out of a sense of obligation (for example, for the family) or because they know they ‘should’ do it. There are also many individuals who feel pressurised into recovery because there may be heavy consequences if they drink or use drugs again (for example, they could lose their job). These motivations may keep the person sober in the short-term, but they are often ineffective when it comes to keeping the individual in recovery long-term.
If you feel passionate about something then it means that you really want to do it. If you are passionate about your job, it will not feel that much like work because you will be paid to do what you love. This passion makes it possible for you to work harder, more effectively, and for longer hours than the person who just does it out of a sense of obligation. The same logic applies to sobriety; if you feel passionate about this new life, you will work hard to get the most out of it.
Why You Need to Be Passionate About Recovery
If you want to get the most out of this new life, you will need to exert a huge amount of sustained effort. This work is going to be relatively easy as long as you remain passionate, but if your commitment to recovery begins to waver then you may find it harder and harder to do the right things. It can get to the stage where you become so resentful with having to stay sober that you start to deliberately sabotage you own efforts.
One of the common signs that a person has lost his or her passion for recovery is that they develop dry drunk syndrome. This means that they are physically sober but have started to act as if they were still in the midst of addiction. Living like a dry drunk means that sobriety begins to feel like a prison sentence, but you can avoid feeling this way by remaining passionate about recovery.
How to Feel Passionate About Recovery
Feeling passionate about recovery requires that you make this your number one priority in life. This does not many that other things are not important to you; it is just an acknowledgement that if you lose your sobriety, you risk losing everything anyway. You need to appreciate how much better your life is now that you are sober. There is a powerful saying that seems be very true in recovery – as long as you remain grateful, you will be far less likely to relapse.
The other way to increase your passion for recovery is to set goals and monitor your progress towards these goals. It is a good idea to set some tough challenges because this is going to get you out of your comfort zone; these goals need to be realistic though or you will become discouraged. Once you see yourself making progress towards one of your goals, it is likely to really ignite your passion.
